Street-sweeper.



LT. D. CURTIS.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLlcATIoN FILED APR. 19, 19064 Patented Aug. 2'?,

3 SHEETS-SHEET l,

m. @H f l BL il. CRTIS.

STREET SWBBPER.

APPLICATION FILED APLIQ, 1906. LUSQBGL y Patented Aug. 27, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

nuen or dd'n, Eugifs.

J. D. CURTIS.

STREET WEBER.

APPLCATION NVPH APB.. 19. 1906. "wh @.{ffqgwggf' Patented Aug. 27, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

LTOBMH UNITED smasagnnr OFFICE.

i OHN D. CURTIS, OEWORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RICHARDSON MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION F MAQ- SACHUSETTS.

STREET-SWEEPER.

Patented au". 27.1912.

Application tiled April 19, 1906. Serial No. 312,713.

A -T 0 all eelt/.gm 'ity/my concern.'

Be it known that l, .lonN D. Ctiurls., a citizen of the -L'nited States, residing at lVorcester, in the county of ll'orcester 'and Commonwealth of Massacliusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in .Street-Sweepers, of which the tollmving is a specification, accompanied by forming a part of the same, in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of a street sweeper embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a central longitmlinal sectional Aview. Fig. 3 is a. detail view of a port-ion of the mechanism for driving au auxiliary inclined brush for sweeping the street gutter,

'and Fig. 4 is a top view. "pSimilar reference letters and figures refer to similar parts in the different views. My present invention relates to certain 'improvements in the details of construction and-operation of a street sweeping machine by which the etiiciency of the apparatus is increased and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter described and pointed out in the annexed claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings Y 1 is a framework supported upon wheels T' and 8 drawn by a vehicle 5. Carried by the framework l is -a cylindrical revolving `Abrush 2, by which loose material from the street surface is swept into a. pan An elevator4 is arranged to remove the sweepings from the pan 3 and transfer' them to the vehicle 5. The framework .l also'supports the necessary connecting mechanism for operating the brush 2 and elevator 4 from the supporting Wheels 7 and 8. A driving shaft 9 is provided, connected with the wheels 7 and 8 by a ratchet clutch connect-ion, as is usual in machines of this class.

The framework 1 is connected to and drawn by the vehicle 5, and the clutch and ratchet connection between the wheels 7 and 8 and shaft 9 causes the shaft LO be rotated whenever the machine is drawn forward, causing the wheels 7 and 8 to turn in the direction of the arrows a, a, by allowing the wheels toturn loosely on .the shaft 9 whenthe movement1 of the machine is reversed.

Journaled in the framework of the maf chine and at. the rear of the shaft 9 is a shaft 10 drivenfr'om theshaft 9 by means of 95 gears 1l and 12, as shown in Fig. 4. The

drawin shaft 10 carries a sprocket wheel lfl connected bya cha-in 14 with the sprocket. 15 carried upon a shaft. 1G which supports the cylindrical revolving brush 2. 'A second sprocket wheel17 on the shaft 1li is connected by a chain 18 with a sprocket 19 on a shaft 20 which carries a revolving fau 21 located above and in `front of the revolving brush 2. Upon-the shaft 9 is mounted a sprocket 22 connected by a chain 23 with a sprocket-24 carried upon a shaft 25, by means of which the elevator 4 is operated,

said elevator consisting of endless chains 2G passing around sprocket wheels 27 attached to the sha-ft 25, and elevated sprocket wheels 28 carried upon a shaft 29 journaled in the casing 30 of the elevator,

In front of the cylindrical Vbrush 2. is a gutter sweeping brush carried upon a shaft v31, preferably slightly inclined from a vertical plane, by whichthe brush (3 is slightly tipped in order to depress its outer edge 32, running next the curbstone 33. The shaft 3l is suitably journaled in a. supporting framework and is driven bya bevel gear 34, held from longitudinal movement by' its Ainelosing box 35 and having a spline connection with the shaft 31, thereby allowing the shaft 31 and brush G to be raised or lowered' as desired. The vertical adjustment of the brush 6 is accomplished by connectingthe upper end of the shaft 31 by means of a chain 3G with a lever 37, pivoted at 3S to the framework and having its'free end connected by a cha-in 39 with an eye bolt-.40 attached to the elevator case 30. The bevel gear 34de driven by abevcl gear 41 carried upon one end of a short shaft 42 journaled in the framework, and having at its opposite end a sprocket 43 connected by a chain .44 with a sprocket 45 carried upon the driving.

shaft 9. f

The shaft --16 which carries the cylindrical revolving brush 2 is suppe: ted upon a supplemental frame 4G which is pivoted con-l ccntric'aly with the lower elevator shaft 25, and the 'free end of the framework 46 is connected by a link 4 7 with' a lever 48 pivoted at 49 upon post-s 50 rigidly supported by the framework l. Sliding upon the lever 48 is a weight 5l capable of'being moved along the lever 48 by means. of a handle 52 so that it will Serve, whenl-in the position shown in Fig. l, to exert a downward pressure upon the swinging frame 4G, or, when moved into thposition indicated by the broken lines 53 it will act as a counterbalance to the swinging frame 46. The weight receiving pan 3 is likewise carried by the swinging frame 46, and as the' pan 3 is curved concentric-ally with the shaft 25 its swinging movement due to the raising and lowering of the frame 46 will correspond to the arc described by the bottoms of the ele-A vator buckets so that they will have a scraping action over the'surface of the receiving pans 3 without rgardvto'the posi- Vtion of the swinging frame 46.

The cylindrical revolving brush 2 and fan 21 are'inclosed bya sheet metal shell occase 56 between the. sides of which' is an inclined apron 57, over which the street sweepings'are propelled by the revolving brush 2 and lodged in the curved receiving pan 3. The fan 21. isA rapidly revolved out ot' contact with the revolving brush and the receiving pan, but is so arranged that the current of air generated thereby will clear the periphery of the brush 2 and direct the dust downward toward t-he receiving pan. l

Depending from. the frame 1 upon the side carrying the `brush 6 are curved arms 57, at the lower. ends of which are supported 4the idler rolls 58 arranged to contact with the curb-stone 33, as shown in Fig. 3. The framework 1 is connected by a swiveled connection with a link 59 pivotally attached to a depending lug on the vehicle 5,-as shown in Fig. 1, thereby allowing movement of the framework either .vertically or horizontally with reference to the vehicle 5 and the rear endof the framework is capable of being directed toward or away from the curbstone upon either side by means of apairof caster- `wheels 60, mounted in stems 61 journaled in bearings 62 attached to the framework of the' machine. The upper ends of the stems 61 are provided with tiller handles 63 which are united by a link 64 having a pivotal connection witheach of the tiller handles, thereby allowing the caster wheels to be simultaneously turned in either direction to cause 4t-herear end of the apparatus A to move laterally to one side or the other as it is drawn forward.

. 1. In a street sweeper, the combination with a horizontal shaft, of a dust pan curved l concentrically with saidv shaft, elevator buckets arranged to move .concentrically about said shaft in contact. with said pan,`

thereby removing dirt from lsaid pan, of'a swinging frame supporting said pan pivoted concentrically with said shaft, and a rotating brush `journaled in said frame,1ar ranged to deliver dirt to said pan.

2. A street sweeper having a 'pivoted'A of .adjustment about its pivot, -a pivoted -lever-having the end upon one side of its pivot'connected with the `freeend of said frame, anda counterbalanc connected with said lever and'adjustable upon either side of its pivot.

v -'4 In a street sweeper, the combination with a pivoted frame and a revolving brush journalcd in said pivotedfra'me, of a lever pivoted midway its length and operatively connected' at Vone end with said ivoted frame, and a weight supported by said lever and capable of adjustment on opposite sides ot' the pivot of said lever, whereby said weight is caused to act with or against the weight of said pivotedframe.

- Dated this seventh day of April 1906.

JOHN D. CURTIS. 

